FROM: SOUTHEASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 16(2) Winter 1997 Issue

FROM JOARA TO CHIAHA:

SPANISH EXPLORATION OF THE
APPALACHIAN SUMMIT AREA,

1540-1568

ROBIN A. BECK, JR.

abstract.

Recent archaeological discoveries at the Berry site n Burke County, North  Carolina strongly suggest that the sixteenth century aboriginal town of Joara, visited by both he Hernando de Soto and Juan Pardo expeditions, was located on the upper Catawba River in present western North Carolina. This paper refines the Soto and Pardo routes from Joara to Chiaha by examining the known distribution of late prehistoric and protohistoric archaeological sites in the Appalachian Summit Area west of the Berry site. Significantly, his study indicates that the Soto and Pardo expeditions likely crossed the Appalachian Summit by different routes.

 

In 1983, DePratter, Hudson, and Smith revived debate on the explorations of sixteenth century Spaniards Hernando de Soto and Juan Pardo in the interior Southeast (DePratter et al. 1983; Hudson et al. 1984). Over the ensuing years, though advocates of both the Hudson route and that of the U.S. De Soto Expedition Commission (Swanton 1939) engaged in heated debates, new archaeological and documentary evidence seemed unable to provide a confirmation of either route's validity. In 1994, however, this situation changed considerably. John E. Worth's discovery and translation of the 1584 Domingo de Leon account (1994b), together with the identification of sixteenth-century Spanish ceramics and hardware at the Berry site (31 BK22) in Burke County, North Carolina (Moore and Beck 1994), strongly suggests that the general course of the Hudson route through the Carolina Piedmont is accurate. Further, on the basis of documentary evidence and the utilitarian nature of the Berry assemblage, Worth (1994a) has tentatively identified this site as Joara (Soto's Xuala), an important chiefdom visited by both the Soto and Pardo expeditions. Though recent evidence supports this section of the Soto and Pardo routes proposed by Hudson et al., the location of the Berry site, together with documentary evidence, suggests that the Soto, Moyano, and Pardo routes across the Appalachian Summit Area west of the Berry site should be refined. Therefore, this paper will reexamine the routes of Hernando de Soto, Hernando Moyano, and Juan Pardo across the Appalachian Summit from Joara to Chiaha.

 

Four major accounts document the Hernando de Soto expedition of 1539-1543 (Hudson et al. 1984:65). In reconstructing the northern section of the route, the testimony of Soto's private secretary Rodrigo Rangel, as translated by John E. Worth (1993), is most important. The accounts of Luis Hernandez de Biedma, also translated by Worth (1993), and the Gentleman of Elvas, translated by James Alexander Robertson (1932), are also cited both to corroborate Rangel's testimony and to illustrate any major discrepancies between these accounts. Due to questions of reliability (Hudson et al. 1984:65; Henige 1986), Garcilaso de la Vega's La Florida del Inca is not cited in this study.

 

Six accounts document the Juan Pardo expeditions of 1566-1568. Two accounts of the second expedition by Juan de la Bandera, Pardo's scribe, offer a detailed testimony of the route to Chiaha. A brief account by Juan Pardo corroborates much of Bandera's "long" relation. A short account by Francisco Martinez, who participated in the first of Pardo's two expeditions, provides an often exaggerated, possibly second-hand relation of Moyano's excursions beyond Joara. I cite translations of each of these accounts by Paul E. Hoffman (1990). The testimonies of Luisa Mendez and Juan de Ribas before Don Gonzalo Mendez Canco in 1600 provide additional information regarding aboriginal towns destroyed by Moyano in 1567 (Hudson 1990). Finally, the 2 1584 Domingo de Leon account, while securing the direction of Pardo's route to Joara, offers intriguing details regarding native polities in the interior (Worth 1994b).

 

In addition to these documentary sources, I also used cartographic evidence to identify early roads and trails in the study area. Only under unusual circumstances (such as Soto's despoblado, or unpopulated desert, beyond OCUte) did either expedition stray from well marked trails (Hudson et al. 1984:66; DePratter et al. 1983). European settlers used many of these same trails through the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, when the first accurate maps of this region were produced (Milanich 1993:26); such maps can be helpful in determining where Soto and Pardo might have traveled in the study area (Milanich and Hudson 1993:11). Further, I used 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle maps to plot the daily rates of travel for both expeditions (using the legua comun, of 5.57 km or 3.47 miles [Chardon 1980; Hudson et al. 1984:66]). Finally, any reconstruction effort should consider the known distribution of late prehistoric and protohistoric sites (Brain 1985:xlviii). I identify specific sites that may correlate with towns described in the documentary accounts, noting in particular those sites with late prehistoric and protohistoric components.

 

 

The Hernando de Soto Expedition

 

The Hernando de Soto expedition arrived at Xuala on Friday, May 21, in the year 1540 (Figure 1). Rangel (Ranjel 1993:281) describes Xuala as "a town on a plain between some rivers; its cacique ... so well provisioned, that he gave to the Christians however much they asked for: tamemes, corn, little dogs, petacas, and however much he had." He further notes that Soto remained at Xuala for four days and that here, "there was a better disposition to look for gold" than in all of "that northern part" (1983:281). According to Elvas (1932:86), however, the expedition stayed at Xuala but two days because there was little grain there; Biedma (1993:231) seems to agree, noting "little population," though they did find "some Indian houses." Perhaps Rangel, as Soto's secretary, arrived at Xuala with an advance party of soldiers led by Soto (Hudson et al. 1984:67). In fact, Rangel (1993:279) does note that Baltasar de Gallegos, taking with him "most of the people of the army," left Cofitichequi for Ilapi in search of corn, rejoining Soto at Xuala two weeks later. It is possible that Elvas and Biedma were in Gallegos' detachment and found Xuala's store of grain depleted by the advance party. Further, as Biedma seems to suggest that the houses of this town were empty, it is possible that the inhabitants of Xuala, aware of Gallegos' impending arrival, dispersed to nearby towns. In the event new documents are discovered, ethnohistoric research may yet resolve some of these discrepancies.

 

All accounts agree that Xuala was located in the foothills: here, Rangel (1993:281) states, "they now had the mountains before them;" Biedma (1993:231) describes the land as "rugged;" and according to Elvas (1932:86), the road from Cofitichequi to Xuala passed through mountainous country." The Berry site is situated along the eastern edge of a broad alluvial floodplain at the junction of Irish Creek and Warrior Fork, eight miles north of the Catawba River, in Burke County, North Carolina. This upland valley, nearly a mile across, represents a major ecotone at the junction of the Piedmont and the Blue Ridge escarpment, offering an important advantage to Mississippian economic and subsistence strategies (Moore 1996:253; Hally 1994:159-164). The Berry site is one of the largest Burke phase towns in the upper Catawba Valley and is one of two known mound sites, though several mounds noted by Cyrus Thomas (1887; 1891; 1894) have yet to be relocated by modern archaeologists. In short, the Berry site corresponds well with Soto's Xuala. More substantial support for this location, including a discussion of the sixteenth-century Spanish artifacts recovered from the Berry site, is presented later with discussion of the Juan Pardo expeditions (Moore and Beck 1994; Worth 1994).

 

On May 25, Soto's expedition left Xuala. According to Rangel (1993:281), they "crossed that day a very high mountain range, and they spent the night in a small forest." Elvas (1932:86) notes that Soto "set out from Xuala for Guaxule, crossing over very rough and lofty mountains." If both Rangel's testimony and the Berry site location are accepted, Soto's actual route through the mountains must differ significantly from the Hudson route. Namely, DePratter et al. (1983:132) place Xuala at the McDowell site (31MC41), located about twenty miles west of Berry, near Marion, North Carolina; they suggest that the Soto expedition traveled due west from the McDowell site, following the Catawba River to its headwaters and crossing into the mountains near the present. town of Old Fort, North Carolina. If, however, Xuala was located at the Berry site, and assuming that Ranjel's testimony is accurate, the expedition could not have followed the Catawba River west from Xuala; only by traveling northwest could they have entered the mountains on the day of their departure, assuming they covered thirteen to fifteen miles a day over this terrain (Hudson et al. 1984:66). State Highway 181, incorporated in 1854 (Phifer 1977:178), runs northwest from Morganton, passing just west of the Berry site, then by Table Rock and Hawksbill Mountain, entering the Appalachian Mountains less than fifteen miles from the site. The expedition likely followed this route, camping near Jonas Ridge. If the Berry site is Xuala, no other path seems to account for Rangel's testimony

 

Suffering "great cold" the following day, Rangel (1993:281) states "they crossed, in water up to their shins, the river by which they afterward left in the brigantines that they made." Biedma (1993:231) notes this crossing also: "In these mountains we found the source of the great river by which we left, and we believed it to be the river of Espiritu Santo." In the vicinity of Linville Falls, the army crossed over to a trail that ran alongside the Toe River, followed today by U.S. Highway 19E; this path first appears on the 1808 Price Strother Map (Cumming 1966:23-27). Here, the Lady of Cofitichequi, taken hostage to insure safe travel, slipped away (Rangel 1993:281; Elvas 1932:86-87). Near the present town of Ingalls, the expedition crossed the North Toe, which by way of the Nolichucky, Tennessee, and Ohio rivers, empties into the Mississippi, "the river of Spiritu Sancto" (Rangel 1993:281).

 

On Thursday, May 27, Soto halted the expedition and waited for Alonso Romo to retrieve two deserters (Ranjel 1993:281). The following day, the army turned north again, following a path later incorporated into the Washington County, Tennessee-Burke County road of 1777, and marked today by U.S. Highway 226 (Phifer 1977:175). They camped in an oak grove (Ranjel 1993:282) near present Webb, North Carolina, near where the Toe and Cane Rivers join to form the Nolichucky. On Saturday, they marched alongside the Nolichucky River, "a large creek, which they crossed many times" (1993:282), and camped near present Erwin, Tennessee. On Sunday morning, May 30, the army entered Guasili (Ranjel 1993:282), probably the Plum Grove site (40WG17), near the present town of Embreeville. Spanish artifacts recovered from Plum Grove include blue glass beads, brass tinkling cones, sheet brass gorgets, and a brass animal effigy; Citico style shell gorgets have also been recovered (Dickens 1980:20; Smith 1987:51, 40). Though Soto-era Spanish trade goods have not yet been reported here, the combination of late Pisgah, Dallas, and sand-tempered, Burke-like ceramics (Dickens 1980; Boyd 1986) suggests that Plum Grove was occupied during the Soto era. In

 

contrast, no late prehistoric-protohistoric sites have been identifed along the middle French Broad, where Hudson et al. (1984:74) have located Guasili (David G. Moore, personal communication 1994).

 

The inhabitants of Guasili provided members of the Soto expedition with many dogs and a small amount of corn (Rangel 1993:282; Elvas 1932:87; Biedma 1993:231). The army departed on Monday, camping alongside the Nolichucky River near present Philadelphia, Tennessee. On Tuesday, the expedition passed through Canasoga (Rangel 1993:282; Elvas 1932:87). Here, according to Elvas (1932:87), twenty Indians came out to meet the Spaniards, bringing baskets filled with mulberries. This town may have been located at either 40GN9 or 40GN11, where Pisgah, Dallas, and Burke like ceramics similar to those recovered from Plum Grove have been reported (Earnest n.d:27). Supporting this hypothesis, gilt brass Spanish buttons and miscellaneous iron artifacts have been recovered from protohistoric burials at 40GN9; this site and Plum Grove are the only sites on the Nolichucky from which sixteenth- and seventeenth- century Spanish trade goods have been reported (Earnest n.d.:22; Smith 1987:49). After passing through Canasoga, the expedition likely forded the Nolichucky River near Ripley Island, as fording the Nolichucky here would have allowed the army to avoid crossing the river's lower course. They camped in the open near present the present town of Greenville, Tennessee.

 

On Wednesday, the army continued west along a trail which skirted the north side of the Nolichucky. This path, marked today by State Highway 340, is shown on a map of Tennessee published by Mathew Carey in 1801 (Wells 1981:25) and served as a U.S. postal route in the 1790s (Phillips 1990:30). The army camped "alongside a swamp" (Rangel 1993:282) near present Warrensburg, where floodplain elevations drop three hundred feet below the surrounding hills. Rangel (1993:282) states that on Thursday, June 3, they "went alongside a large creek next to the river that they had crossed in the savannah (where the cacica went away), and now it was large." Outside Warrensburg, this trail ran between the Nolichucky River and Lick Creek for seven miles while crossing a narrow strip of land. Hudson et al. (1984:74) have noted some difficulty in matching this particular description with the topography of their proposed route along the French Broad River; the topographic relationship between Lick Creek and the lower Nolichucky, however, matches Ranjel's description precisely and seems to be a more plausible identification. The army continued northwest from Warrensburg to present Morristown, then turned south and camped just north of present Witt.

 

Continuing south on Friday, they pitched camp beside Long Creek, near present Dandridge, Tennessee, "where Indians from Chiaha came in peace and brought corn" (Rangel 1993:282). On Saturday morning, June 5, 4 Rangel notes they "crossed the very broad river [i.e. the French Broad] ... and entered Chiaha, which is on an island of the same river" (1993:282). In 1983, DePratter et al. (1983:145-146) identified Zimmerman's Island, now under Douglas Lake near Dandridge, as the location of Chiaha. Based on my interpretation of Soto's route north from Xuala, I strongly agree with this conclusion. In fact, after considering topographic and archaeological evidence, Zimmerman's Island is a better fit for the Nolichucky route than for the route proposed along the French Broad (Hudson et al. 1984:74-75). The army rested at Chiaha for just over three weeks, "the horses ... tired and thin, and the Christians likewise fatigued" (Rangel 1993:282).

 

 

The Juan Pardo Expeditions

 

On December 1, 1566, Juan Pardo's first expedition departed from Santa Elena (Bandera 111990:258), likely arriving at Joara by early January, 1567. Pardo renamed this town after his native city in Spain, Cuenca, as both were "located at the foot of a range of mountains, surrounded by rivers" (1990:265). At Joara, Pardo (Pardo 1990:312) states: "I found a large number of Indians and caciques ... I made a fort where Boyano, my sergeant, and certain soldiers remained with their munitions of powder, matchcord, balls, and maize to eat." After fifteen days, Pardo departed along "the route to the north ... next to a high-volume river that passes by [or through] Juada [i.e., Joara]" (1990:312).

 

As noted, DePratter et al. (1983:132) have argued that Joara was located on the upper Catawba River, near the present town of Marion, North Carolina; Worth's translation of the Domingo de Leon account (1994b) leaves little doubt that this interpretation is largely accurate. Worth (1994a), however, identifies the Berry site, located twenty-one miles east of Marion, as the probable location of Joara. Sixteenth- century Spanish artifacts recovered from the Berry site include two wrought iron nails or spikes; thirteen sherds of Olive Jar representing at least four vessels; one sherd of Caparra Blue majolica; one sherd of a coarse gray earthenware which, as yet, has only been recovered from the Berry site and Santa Elena (Stanley South and Chester DePratter, personal communication 1994); one brass ball button; an iron knife (recovered from Burial I by David Moore in 1986); lead shot and lead sprue; a wrought iron buckle fragment; and one wrought iron staple. In contrast to these utilitarian artifacts, only three non-diagnostic beads have been recovered from the site. While the beads and iron knife probably can be classified as trade goods, Worth's examination of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spanish trade lists has yielded no evidence of items such as iron nails and olive jars ever being traded to the Indians (Worth 1994a). Most of the sixteenth-century Spanish artifacts recovered from the

 

Berry site are thus believed to be utiltarian debris associated with Fort San Juan, the earliest European fort constructed in the interior Southeast (Moore and Beck 1994; Worth 1994a). While it is possible that some of the artifacts may be associated with the Soto expedition, Soto and his men were at Xuala for only three days; Fort San Juan, however, was occupied by twenty relatively well-supplied soldiers for about a year and a half.

 

Pardo returned to Santa Elena on March 7, 1567 (Bandera 111990:259). Shortly thereafter, he received a letter from Hernando Moyano, sergeant at Fort San Juan, who claimed to have battled "a cacique named Chisca" (Martinez 1990:320). According to Francisco Martinez (1990:320), Moyano wrote that he had killed a thousand Chisca Indians and burned fifty houses, though this figure is probably an exaggeration (Hudson 1990:48). Moyano stated that he would "press further on" if ordered to do so (Martinez 1990:320). However, before these orders could arrive, Moyano was threatened by "a cacique of the mountains," who vowed to eat the Spaniards and "a dog the sergeant had" (Martinez 1990:320). Departing at once from the garrison, Moyano and nineteen Spaniards, accompanied by a contingent of warriors from Joara (Hudson 1990:48), traveled for four days over the mountains, where they were surprised to find "the enemies ... enclosed by a very high wooden wall" (Martinez 1990:320). According to Martinez (1990:320), they forced their way inside the palisade, burned the town, and killed fifteen hundred Indians; this figure, too, is likely exaggerated (Hudson 1990:48).

 

Until recently, the Martinez account was the only substantial source regarding Moyano's foray in the spring of 1567. Worth's translation of the 1584 Domingo de Leon account (1994b), however, offers a crucial link between Martinez account and the testimonies of Luis Mendez and Juan de Ribas before Governor Canco in 1600. During her testimony, Luisa Mendez, an Indian woman taken from the interior by Pardo, noted that there were three to five saltwater springs at the base of the mountains; she described the process by which this salt was extracted, claiming that these were the only such springs in all of that land (Hudson 1990:87). Juan de Ribas, a member of Pardo's second expedition who was probably stationed at Joara, testified that Luisa Mendez, his wife, was the cacica of "Guanaytique," also recorded as "Manaytique" (1990:190,201). Significantly, Domingo de Leon notes that "Maniatique" and "Guapere" were the towns destroyed by Moyano in 1567 (Worth 1994b:15).

 

Based on this documentary evidence, it is likely that Maniatique was located on the South Fork of the Holston River near present Saltville, Virginia (Figure 2). Saltville is one of the most productive brines in the Southeast and one of only three locations where rock salt is available (Barber and Barfield 1992:4). An "Indian path" is indicated on the Fry-Jefferson Map of 1751 as having extended south from the upper Holston to the upper Catawba valley; this path is also indicated on the 1770 Collet and 1775 Mouzon maps (Cumming 1966:23-27). Further, Barber and Barfield (1992:2) suggest "the development of a chiefdom level society along the Holston River drainage powered by the extensive trade of salt for exotic wealth items." They propose that the Chilhowie High School site (44SM8) was the paramount village of a "Saltville Complex Petty Chiefdom" (Barber and Barfield 1992:11). Citico and Saltville style gorgets have been reported from local collections, as have other exotic materials such as iron, copper, and mica (Barber and Barfield 1992:13; Wedel 1951:115,121). Though this inferred location of Maniatique depends on the assumption that the springs noted by Luisa Mendez were situated within the bounds of her territory (i.e., Maniatique), it seems unlikely that Mendez, a young girl when taken from the interior, would have had such detailed knowledge of a distant brine.

 

If this interpretation is accurate, Maniatique was probably the town referred to as "Chisca" by Martinez (1990:320). Saltville is situated near the junction of two early trails. One, noted above, extended to the upper Catawba, then south to the town of Tugalo on the upper Savannah; the second trail, a prong of the Great Indian Warpath, ran along the Holston River from southwest Virginia to Knoxville, Tennessee, then south along the Tennessee River to Chattanooga (Myer 1928:765). The Soto accounts clearly indicate that the "Chisca" traded copper both to Cofitichequi and to chiefdoms in the Tennessee Valley (Elvas 1993:89). Though minor deposits of native copper occur on the upper Holston, the Great Indian Warpath continued to the northeast, where more substantial deposits are found near Lexington, Virginia (Goad 1976:49-67). Thus, the inhabitants of Maniatique may have acted as middlemen, trading salt for native copper, then trading both copper and salt to Indians further south. Though many sites in the Saltville region have been damaged by extensive looting, perhaps future research can resolve some of the questions regarding Maniatique.

 

DePratter et al. (1983:131) have located the town of Moyano's mountain cacique on either the upper Nolichucky or Watagua rivers. Though this location seems likely, I disagree with their assumption that this village, referred to as Guapere by Domingo de Leon (Worth 1994b:18), was Chisca (DePratter et al. 1983:131; Hudson 1990:48). Martinez (1990:320) identifies only one cacique as Chisca; Leon describes neither Guapere nor Maniatique as such (Worth 1994b:15). Further, if my interpretation of Soto's route is accurate, it is clear that Indians encountered on the upper Nolichucky were not Chisca. Martinez (1990:320) states that the village of the mountain cacique (i.e., Guapere) was just over four days travel across the mountains from Joara, and was rougli ly halfway between Joara and Chiaha. Of late prehistoric / protohistoric site clusters located between the Berry site and Zimmerman's Island, only those along the upper Nolichucky, Watagua, and Pigeon rivers match this inferred geography. As I will demonstrate, Pardo seems to have encountered "Cauchi" (Bandera 111990:267) on the upper Pigeon. Thus, only the upper Nolichucky and Watagua rivers seem plausible locations for Guapere.

 

According to Martinez (1990:320), Moyano departed this town along "the road of a great chief that was in that head of the mountain range, who is called Chiaha." After four days, he arrived at one of the towns of Chiaha. Located between "two heavily flowing rivers," this town, like Guapere, was defended by a palisade (Martinez 1990:320). Martinez notes that inside "were more than three thousand warriors ... [and] no other persons, neither women nor children" (1990:320). Though Martinez (or perhaps, Moyano) may have exaggerated the number of warriors here, it should be noted that Soto reportedly met a comparable force at Mavila (e.g., Biedma 1993:233). In any case, Moyano encountered no hostility. Rather, the inhabitants of this town gave the Spaniards "lots to eat" (Martinez 1990:320). This outlying town of Chiaha was located at the junction of the French Broad and either the Nolichucky or Pigeon rivers. As I will demonstrate, Pardo visited this same town, called "Tanasqui" (Bandera 111990:267), after descending the Appalachians into what is now eastern Tennessee. Moyano departed Tanasqui by the road "to that chief already mentioned [i.e., Chiahal" (Martinez 1990:320). Two days later, he entered the principal town of that chief, built a small fort, and waited for Pardo (1990:320).

 

On September 1, 1567, some four months after Moyano arrived at Chiaha, Pardo again set forth from Santa Elena, arriving at Joara three weeks later on September 24 (Bandera 11 1990:265). At Joara, he learned that Moyano "was gone from the fort ... and that the Indians had him under siege" (Pardo 1990:313-314). Upon hearing this news, he departed for Chiaha, leaving Corporal Lucas de Canicares in command of the fort (Bandera 111990:265; Hudson 1990:35). Bandera states that the company marched for three days before they arrived at Tocae, "a place which is over the top of the ridge [of mountains]" (Bandera 11 1990:266). According to Pardo, they "passed the mountains in four days of uninhabited areas" (Pardo 1990:314). DePratter et al. (1983:143) have maintained that Pardo's second expedition passed through Swannanoa Gap, and that Tocae was located near the present town of Asheville, North Carolina. In fact, as the army traveled back from Chiaha in early November, Bandera estimated the distance between Tocae and Joara at just over 14 leagues, or about 50 miles using the legua comun (1990:276-277). The Berry site is roughly 55 miles east of Asheville, certainly within range of Bandera's estimate. Though protohistoric sites have not yet been recorded in this area, late prehistoric Pisgah sites are common here (Dickens 1976:17).

 

Pardo was at Tocae for only four hours (Bandera 11 1990:266). On the following day, October 2, he arrived at Cauchi (1990:267). This town probably was located at or near the Garden Creek site, situated along the upper Pigeon River near present Canton, North Carolina (Figure 3). Though Garden Creek Mound No. 1 (31HW1), radiocarbon dated to the early 1400s, was primarily a late Pisgah phase construction, it also was used during the subsequent Qualla phase; several other Qualla phase sites have been recorded in this general vicinity (Dickens 1976:207; 1986:84), and any one of these sites might have been Cauchi. At Cauchi, Pardo met with several caciques, five of which, according to Charles Hudson, were:

 

... a most interesting group of chiefs: Nequase Orata, Estate Orata, Tacoru Orata, Utaca Orata, and Quetua Orata. Three of these were definitely Cherokee because they were still town names in the eighteenth century and later. Quetua was clearly Kittowa, a most important Cherokee town on the Tuckasegee River in the eighteenth century. Nequase was clearly Nequasse, a Cherokee town on the upper Little Tennessee River in the eighteenth century, and Estate was probably Estatoe, also on the upper Little Tennessee River. It is striking that all three of these were Middle towns in the eighteenth century Tacoru was probably Cherokee, and Utaca was possibly Cherokee. It is possible that these towns were on the Tuckasegee and the headwaters of the Little Tennessee rivers in Pardo's day, but some or all of them could also have been on the upper Pigeon River at this time (1990:97).

 

Based on DePratter et al.'s (1983:144) location of Cauchi on the middle French Broad, Hudson (1990:97-98) acknowledges it "is something of a puzzle" that Cherokee oratas met with Pardo here rather than at Tocae. However, if Cauchi was located along the upper Pigeon, as I suggest, the explanation for this meeting is clear: Cauchi was closer to the Cherokee than Tocae. Further, Pardo (1990:314) notes that Cauchi was surrounded by ,'very large bottomlands," a description better suited to the upper Pigeon than to the middle French Broad, where DePratter et al. (1983:144) note that "alluvial lands do exist ... but they are none too wide."

 

On October 3, Pardo left Cauchi (Bandera. 11990:303), traveling for three days "through an uninhabited area" (Bandera 11 1990:267). From the upper Pigeon, he followed one of two possible routes into what is now eastern Tennessee: one route led due north along Sandymush Creek to the middle French Broad (Hudson 1990:98); the other northwest through the Pigeon River Gorge. On October 6, he arrived at Tanasqui (1990:36). Bandera states that this town was "like an island ... surrounded by two copious rivers, which join one with the other at a tip of the said island, which is where the site of the village is" (Bandera 111990:267-268; italics in P. Hoffman's translation). The company forded one of the rivers on foot, "a great labor because it was navel deep," and marched "a good distance [from] the spot where [they] crossed the river to get to the village" (1990:268). Along the exposed approach to this town, "the cacique and Indians of the place had built a wall with three towers for its defense" (Bandera 11 1990:267268; italics in P. Hoffman's translation). Though Richard Polhemus has tested a site at the junction of the French Broad and the Pigeon, the results of this work are inconclusive (Hudson 1990:49). Any sites at the junction of the French Broad and the Nolichucky are now under Douglas Lake.

 

Pardo was at Tanasqui for only a day (Hudson 1990:49). On October 7, he left Tanasqui and arrived the same day at Olamico, the principal town of Chiaha, where Moyano and his company were "hard pressed," but safe (Pardo 1990:314). Bandera notes that Olarnico was situated "on an excellent, strong site ... an island surrounded by copious rivers" (Bandera 11 1990:268) elsewhere, he describes this region as "the land of angels" (Bandera 1 1990:303). Hudson et al. (1984:75; DePratter et al. 1983:146) have argued persuasively that Olamico was situated on Zimmerman's Island, and that this town was the same as Soto's Chiaha. Again, based on my interpretation of both the Moyano and Pardo routes beyond Joara, I strongly agree with this conclusion. On October 13, Pardo left Olamico. Three days later, at Satapo, he learned of a plot to ambush the corn pany and after conferring with his officers, he decided to turn back. At Olamico, the company built Fort San Pedro, where Pardo garrisoned 27 men. At Cauchi, they constructed another fort, San Pablo, in which 11 men were stationed (Bandera 111990:269-278). On November 6, Pardo returned to Joara, "where he made a halt and remained twenty days because the people of his company were tired and poorly provided, that they might have a place to rest and to provide themselves" (Bandera 111990:277).

 

 

Summary and Conclusions

 

In this paper, I have proposed a comprehensive reconstruction of the routes of Hernando de Soto, Hernando Moyano, and Juan Pardo across the Appalachian Summit from Joara to Chiaha. I believe that this study improves upon earlier work for several reasons. First, the utilitarian nature of the Berry assemblage offers new, substantive evidence of direct contact between sixteenth century Spaniards and native inhabitants of the upper Catawba Valley. Further, this reconstruction achieves a better fit between the documentary and archaeological evidence than prior research in the Appalachian Summit; it also provides a better fit between documentary accounts of the sixteenth century landscape and modern topography. Finally, this reconstruction demonstrates that the Soto and Pardo expeditions likely crossed the Appalachian Summit by different routes, thereby resolving apparent discrepancies between the documentary sources and prior reconstructions regarding the location of towns and chiefdoms in this region.

 

To gain a better understanding of aboriginal societies in the Appalachian Summit Area prior to and after the expeditions of Hernando de Soto and Juan Pardo, a great deal more archaeological research is still needed. In particular, ceramic traditions such as Qualla, Pisgah, Dallas, and Burke must be refined within the context of discrete late prehistoric and protohistoric cultural phases. Such refinements would allow archaeologists to more accurately pinpoint regional populations before and after initial European contact, thus providing a means both to identify specific cultural phases encountered by the Soto and Pardo expeditions and to trace the extent to which early European contact disrupted native societies in this region. It is hoped that this reconstruction of the Soto and Pardo expeditions from Joara to Chiaha will contribute to future models of aboriginal culture change in the Appalachian Summit and adjacent areas.

 

 

Notes

 

Acknowledgments. I would like to thank David Moore, Charles Hudson, Vernon Knight, and Ian Brown for reading drafts of the

 

manuscript. Their comments have improved the quality of the paper. In addition to reading the manuscript, David Moore and Charles Hudson also provided unflagging guidance and support during the writing of this paper; their generosity is greatly appreciated. I would also like to thank John Worth for providing access to his unpublished translation of the Domingo de Leon account, Marvin Smith, Charles Ewen, Stan South, Chester DePratter, Richard Polhemus, Mark Williams, and Suzanne Hoyal all responded with insight and good humor to a seemingly endless stream of questions. Any inadequacies, however, are my own. Finally, this paper would not havc been written without the support of Rita Belanger, who read every word of every draft. Her patience and faith are appreciated more than she will ever know.

 

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